INTERVENTION BY THE HOLY SEE AT THE FOURTH COMMISSIONOF THE 60th SESSION OF THE
GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE UNITED NATIONS ON ITEM 33: "QUESTIONS RELATING TO
INFORMATION"

ADDRESS OF H.E. MONS. CELESTINO MIGLIORE

New YorkThursday, 13 October 2005

Mr. Chairman,

The Holy See recognises the right to information and its
importance in the life of all democratic societies and institutions. The
exercise of the freedom of communication should not depend upon wealth,
education, or political power. The right to communicate is the right of all.
Freedom of expression and the right to information increase and develop in
societies when the fundamental ethics of communication are not compromised, such
as the pre-eminence of truth and the good of the individual, the respect for
human dignity, and the promotion of the common good.

Furthermore, new technologies have an important role to play in
the advancement of the poor. As with health and education, access to the wealth
represented by communications would certainly benefit the poor, as recipients of
information to be sure, but also as actors, able to promote their own point of
view before the world’s decision makers.

Given the ever increasing ease of access to information of every
possible kind, the Holy See also stresses the need to protect the most
vulnerable, such as children and young people, especially in the light of the
increase of content featuring violence, intolerance and pornography.

Perhaps the most essential question raised by technological
progress is whether, as a result of it, people will grow in dignity,
responsibility and openness to others.

In this context, the Holy See has set up a unique continent-wide
initiative called the Digital Network of the Church in Latin America (Red
Informatica de Iglesia en America Latina – RIIAL) which promotes the
adoption of digital technologies and programmes in media education, especially
in poor areas. The success of this project has drawn the attention of the
Observatory for Cultural and Audiovisual Communication in the Mediterranean and
in the World (OCCAM) and other international organisations. The Holy See also
supports the continued promotion of the traditional role of libraries and radios
in formation.

It is to be hoped that the Second Phase of the UN World Summit
on the Information Society (WSIS), to be held in Tunis shortly, will lead to
further concrete efforts to build a more inclusive digital society which will
reduce the widespread "info-poverty". It would be well if a new dynamic were
created which goes beyond the political and commercial logic usually at play in
these fields.

My delegation believes that the Information Society should be
one endowed with the ability, capacity and skills to generate and capture new
knowledge and to access, absorb and use effectively information, data and
knowledge with the support of information and communication technology. Already
in society there are many "agents of meaning" or "knowledge workers", such as
the family, schools, the State, opinion makers and leaders, not to mention
religious institutions.

Knowledge is essential in establishing presence in the
international marketplace, and is key to participating in the global economy of
which the Internet is an increasingly important vehicle. Moreover, knowledge
should be recognised in its role in the development of information and
communication technology. At the same time, there is a fundamental need to
develop an ability to discern information received, given the enormous sea of
information available. This process can flourish only where there is a
recognised hierarchy of values.